Of course it was. Who else would it belong to? Everywhere was dark, and it must be the developing part everyone kept talking about. He got on the bike, and I circled my arms around his stomach.
“Keep your face on my back. I don’t have a second helmet and the wind is strong, yeah?”
I nodded, resting my head on his back. “Yeah.”
The bike roared to life, and he sped us out of there.
We got to my place about twenty minutes later, and we both stood on the front porch. The car was parked in front, which told me the girls were inside. It was locked, but after I knocked, Jade opened.
Her makeup was gone, but her face was streaked with tears. When she saw me, she crashed into me, bursting into a loud cry, enough to wake anyone sleeping.
I bit back the pain from my side and hugged her, Theon staring at me throughout. I could hear the need for violence humming in his blood. He was going back.
When Jade was done, she pulled back and thanked Theon, shedding more tears, apologising when she noticed my neck and face.
“What about Laura and Katy?” I asked, looking over her shoulder.
“I put them to sleep. They drank too much. I’m so sorry. I should have waited for the bathroom.”
“No, no. Jade, no. None of this is your fault, I promise. None, okay?” The man would have probably found another way to take me if I hadn’t followed her outside. I hugged her again, letting her cry on my shoulder. I should be the crying one, but I was too tired to summon tears for myself at the moment. Besides, Jade sounded a little bit tipsy. The concoction the bartender gave her was still in her system.
Few seconds later, she went inside to get a blanket, and I turned to Theon. I wanted to be wrapped around him to sleep tonight. After everything, I just wanted to sleep.
“You’re going back, aren’t you?” I asked, already knowing the answer to that.
He moved closer and brought me in for a hug. Theon’s hand slid down my hair in slow, deliberate strokes, but his body was tight, his chest pressed hard against mine.
I couldn’t let him go—not yet.
“Can you not go?” I whispered, hating how small my voice sounded, but the thought of him leaving gripped me harder than my words ever could.
He didn’t answer right away, and the silence stretched between us. My fingers fisted in his shirt, desperate to keep him here. His jaw flexed above me, and then, with a rough sigh, he spoke.
“You know,” his voice was solemn, “I’ve almost lost you twice to him.” His hand froze in my hair, and I could tell what he was about to say. “Six years ago, when I saw him dragging a body, a part of me thought it was you. And now, tonight, when I was speeding to get to you, I thought I was too late.”
His grip on me tightened, as if telling himself I was still here. “He’s taken so much already. I need to make sure he never comes near you again. I can’t, and I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”
I bit my lip, trying to keep my tears from spilling out. Funny how I thought I didn’t have it in me to cry. I understood. He wasn’t going to stay—not because he didn’t want to—but because he couldn’t.
And remembering he lost a whole year because of him, I wanted him to end him.
His hand slid from my hair to cup the side of my face, his thumb brushing over the mark left by the eyepatch man’s hand. He looked down at me, his gaze dark and heavy.
“Just tonight,” I murmured, my voice barely audible, “make him pay.”
His lips ghosted over my forehead, pressing a kiss there, soft but full of the tension he couldn’t release yet. “I will,” hepromised, his voice low, deadly. “Tomorrow...we’ll fix everything else.”
I clung to him for another second, feeling the solidness of him under my hands—the hard planes of his chest, the strength in his arms. And then I let him go. Stepping back, I watched as Jade approached, wrapping a blanket around my shoulders.
I caught Theon’s gaze one last time, his eyes dark and intent as they lingered on mine, before I turned and stepped inside.
But Jade didn’t follow.
I was in the living room when I heard Theon’s voice behind, low and unmistakably soft. “Look after her tonight, Jade,” he said. “Make sure she’s alright. I’m trusting you.”
My heart twisted at his words, a warmth spreading through me despite the cold. I glanced back over my shoulder, but all I saw was Jade closing the door and striding to me.
I called him ten minutes after I woke up the next morning, wanting to know if he’d made it back home. His response came through, steady and calm, “Yeah, I’m back.” He also added that no one would ever find eyepatch’s body.
